Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe and swallowtail butterflies

The trip to Crex wildlife area last week also produced one nice bird sighting -- a Pied-billed Grebe with a chick. The young birds are marked with black and white stripes on head and neck. The chick in the photo is looking away from the camera. There also was a handful of butterfies working grass and flowers on the prairie sections. Wild flowers were full-tilt beautiful last week. Shown here is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. We also saw Common Wood-nymphs, Monarchs, and one Viceroy. There were many small yellow butterflies that went unidentified because they would not land. Few birds were seen, but then August is not a birdy time.

(I write about Crex often because it is, obviously, a favorite place to visit. In the '90s, we lived about 20 miles from that wildlife area. I was there often. It has ponds, wetlands, and brush prairie. It has miles of hard-packed sand roads that offer access to all of it. There are off-road parking areas and hiking trails. Trumpeter Swans are among the many resident bird species. Crex is a five-minute drive from the town of Grantsburg. From downtown Minneapolis you can be there in less than 90 minutes.)